Welcome!

Welcome to the December newsletter and blog!

What a wonderful season we had with 'The Sound of Music'! We had record audience numbers, some lovely compliments from the audiences, and really enjoyed exploring some different technology with the use of projections.It was another show hit by the curse of cast sickness though, and we were very relieved to have cast an understudy for Maria, a double cast of children, and talented people that could step in and perform in another cast member's place at short notice! Thanks go to the cast and crew for a great effort, and to all those supporting back stage, Front of House, etc, as well as parents and partners for putting up with it all!Take a look at the web gallery for some wonderful photos (with thanks to Shalla Thomas).

As always, we're moving swiftly on to the next show, with auditions for Seussical next week. Scroll down for further information, and don't forget that full details of roles available, vocal ranges etc can be found on the Auditions page. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

In case you hadn't heard, we're very excited to announce that we will be presenting Les Misérables next year! Scroll down for details or visit the 2018 Season page for full information. There's surely something for everyone next year.

Christmas will be soon upon us, and we will be teaming up with our friends at CHATS again for a little Christmas cheer in the form of our combined Christmas party, to be held at the theatre on Sunday December 17th. Check out the Diary Dates below - there are always so many things happening at this time of year.

Finally, the Juniors are running a workshop for young people in the school holidays. Registrations are now open, details on the Juniors page.

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Di O'FerrallSecretary

From the President

CHMCC President, Tim Egan

Greetings all,

What an amazing show we have just witnessed over the past month with The Sound of Music. Thank you to everyone who came to see this production and many people did! It was one of the most well attended shows in the company's history, with close to 96% occupancy of seats available. Thank you to every single person associated with this show from our directing team of Judi Williams and Pam Lane to cast, backstage crew, lighting and sound, set design and construction, musicians, marketing/production team, choreography and the front of house team - truly a fabulous production.

Suessical the Musical auditions are coming up quickly so please check out the Auditions page for more details. It would be great to see a large turn out for the auditions which are 9th & 10th December at the CHEC Campus (O block theatre).

Our combined CHATS/CHMCC Christmas BBQ will be on Sunday 17th December at the Jetty Theatre, commencing at 10am. All members are welcome to attend and celebrate the year and Christmas time. I will be away unfortunately so please accept my apologies.

Thanks and Merry Christmas.

Tim

From the Assistant Director

So long, farewell, became the reality as our hugely successful run of Sound of Music came to an end at 5 o'clock last Sunday. All those months of rehearsal culminated in a show which had sold 61% of available seats before we even opened & followed with multiple sold out shows. We lost count of the number of times we heard words like "so professional", "amazing voices" & "didn't know we had such talent in Coffs Harbour". People (not just parents & relatives!) came multiple times because they enjoyed it so much.It was, as always, fabulous to have new faces in the cast; don't keep those voices just for the shower any more! We hope we will see you in shows to come. (Seussical auditions are just around the corner...)The children did a magnificent job. You could hear the applause swell every time they came out to take their bows.And who would have thought that the bowing lady, with whose name John became more & more creative, would become the most hotly contested role as people tried to go one up on the performance of their predecessor? The band, under Tim's competent leadership, delivered great performances every night. It was good to see some new young faces in the pit. We hope you'll be back as well.Illness was the only thing which marked this otherwise wonderful show (thank goodness for understudies & dual casting). It is difficult to prevent the spread of respiratory viruses when people are in such close contact and don't want to let down their colleagues by not going on. Perhaps we all need to work together to find a way to keep our immune systems healthy despite the demands of rehearsals and performance schedules. As many of you know, this was my first foray from behind the scenes for many years. I thoroughly enjoyed it & learned so much, not only from Judi, who is a very talented director, but also from all of the cast. It was such a joy to see them develop, grow into their characters and become such a "family". They did brilliantly. Thank you.Pam

Auditions

Seussical

Seussical Director, Ainsley Corbett

Firstly, Congratulations to everyone involved with the Sound of Music production. All your hard work and effort paid off, it was undeniably a hit.Speaking of hits! The auditions for Seussical are fast approaching and are scheduled to take place on the 9th (for children 10 – 17) and 10th (for adults) of December in the ‘O’ Block theatre at the CHEC campus.For those who don't know me, I have been with the company for 5 years now first starting out in ‘Sweet Charity’. Since my debut I have done many other shows, worked backstage, run lights and am very excited to try my hand at directing.Our production team has been working extremely hard to help prepare for a show that combines all the best that Dr. Seuss has to offer; Horton, Who’s and hunches (Oh My!), it is a show not to be missed by anyone who is a fan. Out of this world, zany, wacky, larger than life characters, big bold colours and all the magic that come to mind when you think Dr. Seuss!"From Whoville to the Jungle of Nool, Solla Sollew to McElligot’s Pool, there is no limit to what can be imagined and achieved and all that’s required is just to believe".We have already had several of you contact us for pre-auditions after seeing our fantastic advertising on Facebook, in the Advocate and at the Theatre and hope to see a whole lot more on audition weekend.Rehearsal will take place 3 times a week, Monday, Wednesday evenings and Sunday afternoon commencing at the end of January. All who are cast are expected to be available for all these times for the 3-month rehearsal period and then for all 20 shows that will occur 4th – 27th May. Please consider before auditioning if this is a commitment you can make.So, if you love to sing, you love big characters and want to be part of what is sure to be a Seussically good time with some fantastic people, we encourage you to come down on the 9th or 10th and audition. We would love to see you there.Ainsley

Seussical

​Seussical is based on the works of Dr. Seuss and weaves together his most famous tales and characters from at least fifteen of his books. The show follows the adventures of Horton, an elephant who one day hears voices coming from a speck of dust. He soon discovers that within this tiny speck exists the smallest planet in the universe! On this tiny planet live a tiny race of creatures known as Whos. Although ridiculed by the other animals in the Jungle of Nool for believing in something he cannot see, Horton stubbornly persists in his belief that the Whos exist. Traveling everywhere from the Jungle of Nool to McEligott’s Pool, some of the characters fall in love, some have desperate adventures, and some even save the world!

Details of roles available, character descriptions and vocal ranges can be found on the Auditions page. Don't forget to read the FAQ's!If you can't make the advertised dates, pre-auditions will be held on Wednesday December 6th by appointment only. Contact the Director, Ainsley Corbett for a pre-audition appointment on 0431 370420.​

2018 Season

What an exciting line up we have for you next year! Seussical the Musical in May, directed by Ainsley Corbett, followed by Les Misérables in November, directed by John Greene!

Christmas Party!

That's right, it's time for the annual combined CHATS & CHMCC Christmas party!Join us for a bucks fizz and a sausage on Sunday December 17th, from 10:00 am on the rotunda at the Jetty Memorial Theatre.Catch up with old friends and new, and fortify yourselves for that last minute Christmas shopping!